Behavior change following a self-management intervention for housebound older adults with arthritis: an experimental study

In North America more than 40% of older adults suffer from arthritis. The adoption of health behaviors is a crucial part of symptom reduction strategies and can increase quality of life of patients. Health behaviors are promoted in arthritis self-management interventions but unfortunately such interventions are not adapted to the reality of the frail and housebound population.

Dr. Kareen Nour examined the impact of a home-based self-management intervention for housebound older adults with arthritis on the adoption of health behaviors. The moderating role of socio-demographic, psychological, and physical characteristics in the process of behavior change were also investigated. To conduct this examination, an RCT was carried out. The experimental group received a home-based intervention called I'm Taking Charge of my Arthritis and the control group was one a one-year waiting list. Interviews were conducted at baseline, pre and post-intervention on collected information on outcome variables (exercise, relaxation, leisure, everyday coping behaviors, and use and accessibility of social networks) and individuals' characteristics. Results have shown that home-based self-management interventions can successfully increase exercise and relaxation activities among housebound older adults with arthritis. This "ready-to-use" intervention could be useful for health professional working in homecare services or other agencies (e.g., rehabilitation, private or public agencies, support groups) with frail population.

Dr. Nour believes that this research project will come to be considered a standard or model for future research projects in term of the design used and the statistical analyses performed. In her continued career as a researcher, Dr. Nour will persist to evaluate programs and services offered to the older adults' population in domains such as mental health, health prevention and promotion and palliative care. Dr. Nour also teaches a class at the University of Montreal in the department of social and preventive medicine.